Mozeus Blog

When posting a picture for marketing purposes, it can be quite difficult to attract a large audience. That’s why it’s important to understand what the elements of a “shareable” picture are. Here are some questions that can help you shape the guidelines for the perfect engaging and eye-catching photo that you or your company desire:

Who is my target audience?

Knowing your target audience is the first step to a successful, shareable picture. You must have a target audience in order to narrow down the focus of your post. Whether the audience is broad, such as age group or gender, or as specific as a certain business, political group, city, school, etc., knowing who the audience is will allow you to start answering the next 9 questions.

Is my picture going to reach the target audience?

Once you’ve found a clear target audience, you need to decide where you’re sharing the picture. Today, social media is common platform for marketing. So, if you’re striving to reach a teen or young-adult market, sharing on Facebook probably shouldn’t be your first resort. Instead, try Instagram or Snapchat. If the picture has a political message, Twitter and Facebook would be a good choice. Your social media platform determines who sees your picture, so make sure to give that a lot of thought. When in doubt, share your photo to multiple social outlets.

Is my picture aesthetically pleasing?

Now more than ever, maintaining the appearance of your Instagram feed is the key to attracting people to your pictures. The individual picture itself can set a base for an organized and appealing feed, so make sure everything in your picture is absolutely necessary to send the message of your post. Usually, the more simple and colorful the picture is, the more attractive it is to an Instagram-using audience. Ideally, a shareable picture would match the pattern of the rest of your pictures, not overwhelm anyone and of course, appeal to your specific audience.

Am I utilizing the resources that I have available to me?

Whether it be Photoshop to give your picture an element of surprise or simply a free iPhone app to enhance certain features and perfect others, editing apps can impact the overall strength of a picture. Using layers, collages, adjusting the exposure, contrast, temperature, saturation, etc., can all help catch a viewer’s eye. GIFs and Boomerangs can also spice up a post, straying away from the traditional picture. Aside from these apps and photo-alternatives, you can also use public figures to make your photos more powerful, like a social-media-famous brand ambassador who can take pictures in/with the products you send them. That will allow you/ your products to appear on a more popular page, essentially reaching a larger audience.

Is my picture repetitive?

Making sure your picture is original can be difficult, but it definitely makes it more shareable. Don’t obviously copy advertisements that you’ve seen from big brands, because chances are, all of your followers have seen it. Be creative when you share, because a unique photo can draw a lot of attention to your social media platform as a whole.

Is my picture offensive?

It can be interesting to include some controversy in a picture since it makes people want to share it for all of their friends to see. But when you run the risk of offending the majority of your audience, people probably won’t react well, potentially giving you or your brand a bad reputation. Whether it’s to do with politics or any taboo subject for that matter, make sure that this engaging aspect of your picture isn’t going to offend the people that you want to attract.

Is my picture staying true to my values?

Considering the target audience and their interests is important, but if you’re steering away from the purpose of your photo just to stay trendy and on-topic, you can start to look like you’re not set on a certain goal for your picture. Ensure that the pictures you plan to share correlate with any public values that you hold and do not contradict any past posts, whether they were about political, religious or social views.